Florida Man Convicted in Child Pornography Case

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 2, 2012

James E. Price, III, 42, of Plantation, Fla., was convicted on June 29, 2012, by a federal jury on one count each of distribution and possession of child pornography, announced Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

According to court documents and three days of testimony during the trial, the case originated from a South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) investigation into an individual suspected of possessing and trading child pornography using a peer to peer file sharing network. The individual was later identified as Price. A search warrant was executed on Price’s residence, where agents discovered a hard drive hidden behind boxes in the home. Subsequent examination revealed that the hard drive was protected by encryption and contained hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.

Price faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison for the possession of child pornography charge and 15 years in prison for the distribution charge, a maximum fine of $250,000 on each count, and the possibility of lifetime supervised release. Price is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 10, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc Anton and Mark Dispoto of the Southern District of Florida and by Trial Attorney Thomas Franzinger of CEOS in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The case was investigated by the South Florida ICAC, including the Martin County, Fla., Sherriff’s Office, the Broward County, Fla., Sherriff’s Office, and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, with assistance from the CEOS High Technology Investigative Unit.